Want Health Insurance? Go Out and Buy It
reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie isn’t making a run for the White House, but he knows how to get coverage to at least half of the 45 million Americans who need it. Call it the Gillespie Plan: If you want health insurance, get some.
In Michigan, you can get basic health insurance through Blue Cross starting at $47.14 per month for those 18-30 years old (about the cost of a basic cell phone plan), and starting at $138.54 per month for another plan for individuals under 65 (not too much more than a cable TV plan with premium channels, and less than two cells phones at the monthly average of $77).
14 Comments:
I agree with the Gillespie plan, and that's what I've done. Unfortunately my Blue Cross plan in Florida for "under 65" has been over $600/month just for myself. Maybe Michigan has something to offer Florida ....
If you're young without a history of health problems, and especially if you had no assets to lose, I'd take the "no insurance" bet. As you get older, the chances of something catastrophic make it a bad bet.
Sharon:
Blue Cross (here in Fla, at least) is known for being rather expensive. You might check into other plans which are more closely tailored to your specific needs from other companies.
Everyone likes Blue Cross, as long as they don't have to pay for it.
I'd lay odds you can cut that by 2/3s to a half at the least and still be satisfied with what is covered.
What? Require people to pay for a product themselves? That's silly - doesn't Gillespie understand that we're running a welfare state here? Get with the program, Nick!
OT:
How about those Gophers- put'n the hurt on Illinois!
I have Blue Cross in Nevada and I'm paying $350 a month. What's up with that?
ummm...i've got a catastrophic coverage plan with BC/BS in florida, and my plan is...about $35? Maybe a bit more ($5), because i'm 'overweight'.
Before I was married my wife paid about 150 a month for health insurance. Of course, when it came to regular services such as doctor visits and preventative care, she was aloud two visits and one visit. This doesn't seem much of a burden to me. We just packed our lunches every day, and it pretty much paid for itself. It's definately a matter of were your priorities are.
It definitely is a matter of were your priorities are. I have co-workers who won't get health insurance for themselves or kids through our employer. They say that they cannot afford it, even though we have a good plan, paying only about 250 a month for a couple. They would rather stick with welfare, claiming that it is too expensive. It is amazing though that they eat out everyday, and buy starbucks and tim Hortons....
I am 52 years old and live in California, I have to pay $389.00 a month for health insurance with a $5,000.00 a year deductible.
Where does our host find these ridiculous total bull-shit stories about health insurance for $138.00 for an elder person.
Even twenty years ago I was paying over $100.00 a month for health insurance.
i am all for this concept, only i live in Pennsylvania and the basic plan for me (male, under-65) is $300.00 per month . . . with a $3,000. deductible.
Most of the "uninsured" are young, I believe, so it makes sense to say the way to get them insured is for them to buy insurance if they want.
Is it just me, or does anyone else wish the pols stopped talking about "health care" and started talking about "health insurance"? There currently is a guaranteed federal right to health care - Hospitals can't turn you away, but you are on your own (or should be) for health insurance. Sheesh.
For those of you complaining that other people's numbers are bogus, don't forget that we have 50 different insurance markets in this country. Conditions of coverage, and mandatory coverage items, vary widely and have profound effects on prices. New York and Maine, for example, allow you to put off buying insurance until the moment you actually get sick. In those states insurance is 3-4x the cost of insurance in states without such mandates. In other states, the minimum policy has so many mandated coverages that again the cost is driven up. You can't buy a minimal policy in those states, you are too stupid to know what you need so their legislatures have done your thinking for you.
Before I met my husband and got that great Teamsters health insurance, I paid $800 a month with a $2,000 deductible on major medical but I did get a good prescription plan with only $250 deductible.
This is the price if you have been hospitalized for asthma. I was really, really happy to get insured for $800 a month. Imagine trying to insure a family? Impossible.
However, I am still unwilling to have socialized medicine. We'll just be paying a different way.
My family is "Middle Class" and my health insurance and medical issues are torturing me financially. Come to my house and I'll show you my budget and the reason we do what we do with our money. You didn't cover the average middle class family struggling with their health insurance and it's lack of provision.
We've had group health insurance for the last 20+ years. In the last 4 years we've had to actually use it and it has been pure misery. Sure, everything is covered when you buy the policy but things change when you start using it. In-network / Out-of-Network, sheesh, seems like you don't stand a chance. If something is out-of-network then standard/customary doesn't apply so everyone can try and get you for everything they can. WHAT A MESS!
I pay nearly $6,000, and growing, in premiums every year. We've had 2 out-patient surgeries in our family in the last two years, and have maxed out the rest of our insurance requirements but still paid more than $5,000 out of pocket.
The basic math says we paid more than $11,000 each year for health coverage protection.
So, why do I have insurance?
Complaining hasn't done me or anyone else I know any good in this arena so I'm proposing a new PUBLIC outcry. Please visit my website http://www.stoprapingme.org and get involved. There are images to send to people that they might send to others, and they . . . Hopefully we can mobilize a public outcry and determine some stop-gap solutions that will start a reform action.
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